Curious what folks think about paint repairs on small scratches on bumpers? Should they be entirely repainted or is spot treatment okay? I know touch up paints will definitely be visible but what about spot blended?

I recently scratched my bumper and am trying to figure out if something like this service is a good fix.



Looks like he is sanding down the scratches, primer, painting, and somehow blending clear on top. Curious if this is the right solution? I've always been taught to repaint the entire bumper but want to know what others think?

Thank you!

It really depends on the overall condition of the bumper.

If that's the only problem it has then, yes repair the area and blend your paint. Of course getting an exact or very close match paint is the critical part of the process.

Is that area actually scratched or does it have something on it?

Yeah, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ what he just said, is it something that is "transfer" or is that the underlying black plastic we are seeing?

DarrelK wrote:Yeah, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ what he just said, is it something that is "transfer" or is that the underlying black plastic we are seeing?

its definitely underlying black plastic showing not a paint transfer. I buffed most of the paint transfer off. the car is practically new with less than 10,000 miles and is garaged. so the paint should be a great condition. my concern is how good of a fix this would be compared to what ive traditionally known of a fix was to paint the entire bumper?

are you thinking of doing this yourself? typically one would spot the damage area blending the color out. then clear the complete bumper. most any i have ever done like this they need more paint work for rock chips and so on. also you can spot the color and hopefully find a narrow spot to terminate the clear and only clear half the bumper. blending the clear over white would be less revealing, no special attention to the clear blend. like you would have with a darker color. this is probably not a job one would attempt with no knowledge, tools or experiance. what would the mobile person charge for something like this???
Jay D.

badsix wrote:are you thinking of doing this yourself? typically one would spot the damage area blending the color out. then clear the complete bumper. most any i have ever done like this they need more paint work for rock chips and so on. also you can spot the color and hopefully find a narrow spot to terminate the clear and only clear half the bumper. blending the clear over white would be less revealing, no special attention to the clear blend. like you would have with a darker color. this is probably not a job one would attempt with no knowledge, tools or experiance. what would the mobile person charge for something like this???
Jay D.

oh no im not tempting this myself. i just wanted to get some opinions from other body folks if this mobile work is the right way of doing this job. hes charging 450 to fix my scratch. he would only clear the spot like you mentioned instead of the entire bumper.

another body shop quoted me 900 but they'd fix the scratch and clear the entire bumper

Have them fix the scratch and clear the entire bumper. It will be a much longer lasting repair.

The blend in the clear will be the weak spot. Yes it will be invisible to start with but my experience has been that the blend area of the clear will be the first to fail.

With a body line like that you can do a tape line right on it
feathering out the color and clear so that only the last coat of clear
is right up to the tape line, then that edge of clear left from the tape
can be buffed to where it's not noticeable.
The other area would have to be blended though.
I do blends all the time, if done right it will last longer
than most have a car, even if it does come back later on down the road, a little
polish will usually take care of it.
I always give the customer the option, clearing the entire item is
always best, but sometimes the cost, it just isn't an option.

someone experienced at blending clear can make it last and look good. it takes experiance and the right products.
Jay D.